Q: Now, is your film meant to be critical of Communism or capitalism, or both?
LF: That’s a very good question! I actually put a lot of time into thinking about the answer to that. I think I’m criticizing both. You know, I recently watched Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story, and I absolutely loved it. I think it’s a fantastic film. It hits the core of what’s wrong with the capitalistic system. But to me, things are very simple. You know, you walk down the street and see hard-working men and women. They work long hours, and don’t complain. Here and in China, there are some people who don’t have to work hard, but they make ten-thousand times what average hard-working people make. I don’t think that’s fair or right. Capitalism created a vast world economy. But when it comes to the point where so many people are paying a dear price, I feel there’s something wrong and we need to think about it.
Q: Have there been any reactions in China to the not-so-pretty picture in Last Train Home?
LF: The authorities in China are OK with the film, even though it’s critical of them.
Q: You’ve also worked in the media in China. So why did you relocate to do similar work here?
LF: In China, there were stories that you’re not allowed to tell or not allowed to tell them the way you want to tell. So I always felt restrictions.
Q: Well, you’ve made a film critical of China, which is certainly not a controversial subject in the U.S. But it might be a different story in a similar way if you made a politically controversial film here, in terms of distribution.
LF: Yes…
Q: And in this country, you’re pretty restricted as to what you can say in the corporate media. I wanted to point out too, regarding why you left China, you didn’t seem to have any restrictions placed on you while you were making Last Train Home. You seemed to be able to go wherever you wanted to and film whatever you wanted.
LF: Exactly. And that’s what I find really interesting, that when I lived in China, I always fancied that the world outside China is a perfect world. Probably all young Chinese dream that America is the ultimate free country. But after I moved and lived here a couple of years, I started to realize that it was not what I had dreamed it was. You don’t really have absolute freedom to talk about certain things.
Q: Or any freedom, really, in the corporate media. The news is slanted by either distortion or omission. And many of the individuals who own the corporate media also own the industries that they’re not going to allow to be criticized.
LF: Yes, there’s always censorship. Tthere’s also a tendency here to stereotype countries that are not, quote, “democratic.”
Q: And there’s another irony, when you mention Chinese workers who long to come live here. Most Chinese immigrants here lead miserable lives, either toiling away for little money in sweatshops or in takeout food stores. Not so different from the private factory workers depicted in your film.
LF: Actually, when I first came here to Chinatown in New York, I was quite shocked! You know, to see what you just described. I was thinking, “Why is this happening?” So I think this labor migration is happening all over, and this labor force is just floating everywhere.
Q: So are these migrant workers in China beginning to get angry enough to demand better working conditions, such as forming unions?
LF: Yes. They know they have power and rights. So in the past few years they’re starting to organize, and ask for better rights and better pay. You see that now in a series of strikes and sit-downs and a standoff recently against the employers at a Toyota factory.
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Q: What happened at Toyota?
LF: The owners were forced to raise the workers’ pay 20 percent. So yeah, the working class in China is changing. That will bring profound changes in everything as well.
Q: What would be your own solution to the current schizophrenic economic situation in China?
LF: That’s a big question to answer! There are so many challenges to face. China has an aging population. So with the current economic slowdown and fewer jobs, the country might get old, before it gets rich!
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